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BARBARA
DICKSON OBE
Scotland’s Best Selling Female Album Artist of All Time
September 11 – Belfast’s Waterfront Hall
Tickets £30.00 - on sale Monday 28 April
“The voice of Barbara Dickson soars
gloriously to the rafters”
(The Daily Telegraph) “Barbara Dickson is a very special talent” (Sir George
Martin)
“I love Barbara Dickson. From the very first time I heard her, her voice just
nailed me to the wall… she’s just a one-off.”
(Billy Connolly)
biography
The voice of Scotland, Barbara Dickson has just announced two exclusive Irish
shows this coming September in Dublin and Belfast. Tickets for Dublin priced
38.00euro go on sale this Friday 25 April and tickets for Belfast priced
30.00stg go on sale Monday 28 April.Barbara Dickson was born in Dunfermline,
Scotland. Her singing career started in folk clubs around her native Fife in the
sixties, exposing her to a rich combination of traditional and contemporary
music. In the early seventies, she sang at a Liverpool folk club run by a young
student teacher called Willy Russell. He showed Barbara the first draft of what
would later become the award winning musical, ‘John, Paul, George, Ringo….and
Bert’ and asked her to perform the music. The combination of fine writing, a
superb cast of young unknowns, (Antony Sher, Bernard Hill, Trevor Eve to name
but a few!), and Barbara’s idiosyncratic interpretation of Beatles songs made
the show hugely successful. The show’s co-producer, Robert Stigwood, signed
Barbara to his record label, RSO Records, where she recorded the album ‘Answer
Me’, the title track becoming a top ten hit in l976. This led to her guest
residency on the much loved series ‘The Two Ronnies’, which brought Barbara’s
singing to the attention of more than 10 million viewers every week.
Also impressed by Barbara’s performance were Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice,
who invited her to record ‘Another Suitcase in Another Hall’ from the new
musical ‘Evita’, which became her second hit in l977. Other hits including ‘The
Caravan Song’ and ‘January, February’, followed in l980. In l982, Willy Russell
asked Barbara to star in his new musical ‘Blood Brothers’ in the pivotal role of
the mother, Mrs. Johnstone. Although at first reluctant to accept, having never
acted before, (not even in a school play!), she rose to the challenge, in the
process garnering critical acclaim as well as Actress of the Year in a Musical
from the Society of West End Theatres in l984.
Later that year, Tim Rice approached Barbara to take part in the cast album
recording of the musical ‘Chess’, which included the song ‘I know him so Well’,
a duet sung with Elaine Paige. This song remained for many weeks at number one
in the charts.
In the l990’s Barbara appeared in various TV dramas including ‘Taggart’, the
award winning ‘Band of Gold’ and ‘The Missing Postman’.
Acclaimed writer and director Chris Bond created a show for Barbara in l996
called ‘The Seven Ages of Woman’ which won her the Liverpool Echo Actress of the
Year Award. It premiered at the Liverpool Playhouse and toured extensively in
l997 and l998.
In l999 and 2000, Barbara starred in ‘Spend, Spend, Spend’, a new musical by
Steve Brown and Justin Greene. The show, based on the rollercoaster life story
of pools winner Viv Nicholson played in the West End to capacity audiences. For
her portrayal of Viv, Barbara was awarded ‘Best Actress in a Musical’ at the
2000 Laurence Olivier Awards.
Barbara continues to record. In 2004 she had great success with ‘The Platinum
Collection’, which featured some of her most successful recordings.
In 2005 her album, ‘Full Circle’, a journey back through her musical history,
was hugely admired and well reviewed and Barbara’s last CD was an eclectic
collection of the songs of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison called ‘Nothing’s
Gonna Change my World.’
Her latest album ‘Time and Tide’ is now out and features both traditional and
contemporary songs, the flavour of which is what makes Barbara’s music so
vibrant and distinctive these days. The album, like ‘Full Circle’, is produced
by Troy Donockley and they have collaborated for the first time as songwriters
on this project. Barbara says ‘This has been my most exciting musical venture
for years. I have loved the creative process in making this album.’
The new DVD ‘Into the Light’ is also a collection of songs old and new, recorded
live in concert in 2007. Barbara’s hits are represented plus songs from her
recent repertoire and from the new CD ‘Time and Tide’. In fact, something for
everyone!
Barbara has been acting again and has completed a story for BBC ‘Doctors’ to be
shown in the Spring of 2008. It’s called ‘Mama Sings the Blues’. She has also
just appeared for the first time on Channel 4’s ‘Countdown’ in it’s 25th year
and really enjoyed the experience.
Barbara is a Companion of Liverpool’s LIPA and a Fellow of Liverpool’s John
Moores University.
Barbara continues to tour, playing to sell-out audiences throughout the UK.
2008 will see Barbara celebrating 40 years as a professional musician. As a
multi-million selling recording artist with an equally impressive Olivier
award-winning acting career, Barbara Dickson has firmly established herself as
one of the most versatile performers in the UK.
Asked about the highlight of her career, she says ‘ I don’t know, it hasn’t
happened yet!’…..
Married with three sons, Barbara lives in Lincolnshire. She was conferred with
an O.B.E. in the Queens’ New Year’s Honours in 2002.
“It is no exaggeration to describe Dickson as a great singer. She stood out a
mile among the Scottish folks singers of her generation, and she has
consistently shown her class when performing for a wider public.”
(The Daily Telegraph)
“Barbara Dickson has one of those voices – boy can this lady sing! She can glide
with glacial beauty, bright and pure, through the high notes. She can slip down
to husky warmth, and she can burn with straightahead soul power. When she sang
the folk clubs, she could transfix with feeling and intensity. Now she’s moving
on again, but that voice is still there.”
(New Musical Express)
“[Barbara’s] voice, as true as ever, has a thrilling quality in the upper
register… The chance to hear her sing a personal choice of favourite good songs
should not be missed.”
(The Times)
“Preconceptions are made to be shattered. Whether you know her as the star of a
song and dance spectacular, or remember her from the Fife folk scene in the
1970s, Barbara Dickson is just the kind of person you might expect to stick up
for the good old songs. But the singer is plainly as hip as she is eloquent.
What she treasures are great lyrics and she admits to a liking for Randy Newman,
James Taylor and Elvis Costello… Dickson is not to be underestimated”.
(The Sunday Times)
“Barbara Dickson shows what true class is all about”
(The Stage)
For further media/artist information please contact:
James Rollins
Phone: 07967 584573
james@jamesrollins.co.uk
www.jamesrollins.co.uk
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